Google is starting to push Material Design to Chrome desktop, and here are the first images

Since it was revealed in 2014, Google has been pushing its Material Design language to many of its apps and services, but one product that hasn’t changed very much over the years is the desktop version of Chrome. Now, however, it looks as if the browser may soon get an update to match its iOS and Android versions, as a discussion on Google’s developer website suggests that Material Design will start making its way to the browser starting with version 50.

The Next Web, which first spotted the filed request on Google Code, was able to alter some hidden settings to get screenshots of the Material Design-infused Chrome. As you can see, the changes are more subtle than overwhelming.

The tabs, for example, now have square edges rather than rounded ones, and the famous ‘hamburger’ menu icon has been replaced with three vertical dots. Several of the other buttons have also had a visual refresh and animate when clicked in the same way that many Android apps do, apparently.

Material Design also brings a better scrolling bar and redesigned pages for Downloads, Extensions, Settings and History. Additionally, there’s a brand new all-black incognito mode, which should make it easier to tell if you’re browsing in an incognito tab or a standard tab.

It’s worth remembering that all these changes are still in the testing phase at the moment, so they may change before the official update is rolled out. There’s still no release date for when we’ll see these features appear in Chrome, but many of them are available to try right now, just head over to this post to find out how.